The Year of Victory

First of all, as I sit and write tonight I’m reminded that 3 years ago today we landed in Beijing, China, anticipating one of the biggest days of our lives in a long time…the adoption of our sweet girl, Grace!  So many memories have flooded my heart all day long…

But, that’s not what I want to write about on this 17^th day of January, 2017.

For many years now, I have been so intrigued by the study of numbers in scripture.  The last couple of weeks in December I began, as most of us do, thinking about the year to come.  And, as usual, I began to wonder what “17” means in scripture and how that might play in to this year of my life.

So…I opened our “Biblical Mathematics” book to the chapter on the number Seventeen and began to read.  To my beautiful surprise, I read that it means “VICTORY!”  How do we know that?  Well, there are tons of references in the book but here are a few to wet our appetites as well as some other research I found.

I love I Chronicles 29:11.  It’s a prayer David prayed, but let’s start in verse 10…you want to?

Then David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly:

“O LORD, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever!  Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty.  Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom.  We adore you as the one who is over all things.”

Victory in this verse is defined in the Key Word Hebrew Bible as nêtsach – a goal, i.e. the bright object at a distance traveled toward (remember I was studying this a couple of weeks before Christmas).  Splendor, confidence.  An attribute of God, namely, the kingdom, power, glory.  It points to God’s eternal, truthful nature that is contrary to lying or changing.

I love this!  This year, may VICTORY be my goal, your goal, our confidence; that bright star we’re traveling toward.

I also love I John 5:4 that says, “everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

Now, for some interesting 17’s in scripture.  Psalm 73-89, is the Book of Worship and it’s comprised of 17 Psalms.  Psalm 90-106 follows that book and is known as the Wilderness Psalms, totaling 17 Psalms.  Conclusion: Victory is found in Worship and Walking out your faith.

Romans 8:35-39 lists 17 things that are unable to separate us from the love of God.  What could possibly bring victory more than being sure of the love of God in any situation?

“What can separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall

1. Trouble
2. Hardship
3. Persecution
4. Famine
5. Nakedness
6. Danger
7. Sword

“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.  No in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither

8. Death
9. Life
10. Angels
11. Demons
12. Present
13. Future
14. nor any powers,
15. neither height,
16. nor depth
17. nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Coincidence?  I don’t think so…

Finally, the Bible records many miracles on the 17^th day of Nisan resulting in victory:

 - Noah’s ark rested on Mt. Ararat
 - Moses led the Israelites through the parted Red Sea
 - Israel entered and ate the fruits of the Promised Land (the day of firstfruits)
 - The walls of Jericho came down
 - The cleansing of the Temple by Hezekiah (800 years after entering the Promised Land)
 - Queen Esther saved the Jewish nation from elimination…just to name a few.

No other day except Passover is mentioned so many times in the Bible.

Speaking of Passover, remember before Jesus was crucified, He had the Passover meal with His disciples (Luke 22).  Leviticus 23:5 says Passover begins on the 14^th day of the month.  Also, remember the Jewish day begins at sundown.  That means before sundown on the 14^th Jesus gave up His spirit.  If He was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights…and He was…that means He was raised from the dead on the 17^th day!!!  The epitome of ALL 17^th’s was the day of VICTORY…Easter morning!!

Be encouraged tonight…victory is on the way.  I’ve already seen it on this 17^th day of the first month of 2017 in my life, have you?

You Prepare a Table...

It's Thanksgiving and my heart overflows with the goodness of the Lord. As I begin the day, I have plans to prepare my table with some of our favorite foods.  Reading through several Psalms this morning, I was reminded that my heavenly Father prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  I wonder what His table looks like (literally)...

"You anoint my head with oil...thank you, Spirit of God...my cup overflows (with blessing after blessing after glorious blessing).

But I was also reminded this morning of so many people that I love who are right where Psalm 23 is when it says..."I walk through the valley of the shadow of death."  My mind races to dozens of people today as I think about those words.  Friends and family who may be having a very different Thanksgiving this year.  May the Word of God encourage you today.

The "shadow of death" in scripture is defined like this (in the Hebrew Key Word Study Bible):

1. shade of death
2. the grave
3. calamity; - shadow of death

It says the shadow of death is a masculine noun meaning a death shadow, a deep shadow.  In some contexts in scripture, this word is used to describe death (Job 38:17); or those close to death (Psalm 107:10, 14).  In other contexts, it was used to describe a physical darkness (Job 24:17; Am 5:8); a spiritual darkness (Isaiah 9:2); a darkness of understanding (Job 12:22); a gloomy countenance (Job 16:16); or a dangerous land (Jer 2:6).  Occasionally, both elements of death and darkness are present in the context (Job 3:5; 10:21, 22).

I looked up many of these scriptures in parenthesis this morning and my heart was moved by the Truth of the Word of God.  Maybe you have truly experienced a death that saddens you today, or the memory of a death in the past, or a death that you feel is certain to come, making the holiday season much harder to get through.  Let your heart be encouraged that EVEN THOUGH you walk through the valley of the shadow of death (or darkness/uncertainty), I WILL fear NO evil, for YOU, Father, are with me; your rod (of correction yes, but ALSO your rod of authority under which I can rest) and your staff they comfort me.

Look at that word comfort...

It means to sigh...to breathe strongly; to be sorry (in a favorable sense), to console - to comfort (self), ease [one's self], repent.  To console is synonymous with showing kindness to someone.  God comforts those who need it (Psalm 119:82; Isa 12:1).

My prayer for you today is that your heart will be drawn to the Lord and that you will allow Him to comfort you (sigh with relief) in all of your trouble.

SURELY goodness and mercy (love) will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Psalm 23:6).

I love you...

Living Extraordinary

I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around a thought recently…

Jesus walked on planet earth completely human yet with a divine nature.  I do too.  (Christ in me, the hope of glory-Colossians 1:27)

Jesus, the Son of God, did ordinary, mundane things yet when He did them they became hallowed, sacred, extraordinary.  So can I.  (God created us in Christ to do good works, prepared in advance for us to do-Ephesians 2:10)

I spend a lot of my time doing ordinary, mundane activities that “seem” to have little effect on the world or on the kingdom of God.  So often, in fact, I can even feel unimportant, used and frustrated.  It’s easy in the physical sense to feel weary and without purpose in the grand scheme of things.  But, what if we could change our perspective?

Jesus took a towel and…washed the disciples’ feet (John 13).  Imagine being the recipient of that ordinary act.  

Jesus took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and … (Mark 10:16).  Imagine receiving that care.

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man … (Matthew 8:3).  Who have you touched today?

So often the good things God prepared for us to do become drudgery.  Through our human heart and eyes we see little value in the everyday, ordinary things we do.  Therefore, we fulfill our tasks with little care and even communicate our scorn for them.

But, what if we could see the everyday, ordinary things we do with different eyes?  What if we could see that cup of water or juice or milk or coffee we serve today with all the potential God sees in it when it’s given in Jesus’ Name (Matthew 10:42)?  What if we could conduct that meeting, or change that diaper, or stuff those envelopes, or see that patient with the extraordinary touch of Jesus on our lives that actually has the potential to change a life?  Would it make a difference in the way we walk through each day if we were awakened to the value and purpose the day is filled with and how powerful the influence we have on our little world really is?  

ONE day in Your courts (in Your presence, in the realm of Your existence, with Your perspective), Lord, is FAR better than thousands anywhere else.  And a day without spirit eyes is a day wasted.  I don’t want to waste another day!!